Page 28 of Impossible Thrills

Jagger gave her a devil-may-care grin. “Yes, Mom. Shawn checked it out for us.”

Darcy stuck out her tongue at him. She was a mom dozens of times over. She loved her little ones but still longed for Avalyn. She would never be a ‘birth mother’ again. Unless she could let her guard down.

She focused on Nick as he perched on a rock with his feet, holding onto a root with his hands, all the muscles in his arms and back engaging. If only he were the trustworthy type.

Yet what had Nick done to make her doubt him? He’d said a few things that indicated he just wanted a fling, and she feared he was hiding something. Maybe she needed to ask him outright. Did she dare? Could she trust he was telling her the truth or just what she wanted to hear?

Jagger pushed off, arched, and dove smoothly into the pool below.

He surfaced, and she clapped, relieved he was okay.

“Seven point five,” she rated his dive.

“What?” Jagger protested. “I deserve a ten. I’ll do a better trick next time.” He swam with sure strokes to the edge and then scrambled up the boulders again for another go.

“I thought seven point five was generous,” she said.

He grunted at her.

Darcy really did feel like Jagger and Hays were brothers to her. They could tease, not say the right thing and not care, be there for each other, and care when it mattered.

Nick. He was protective of her, and she was enthralled with him. No brotherly feelings for that man, but she didn’t know that she could fully trust him. Because he was a flirtatious charmer, or was he hiding something from her?

Hays was at the ledge now. He turned backward, perched on the edge, pushed off and arched backward. His back dive was impressive, and he hardly splashed as he went into the water.

When he surfaced, she clapped and let out a wolf whistle. “Wow. That was an eight point five for sure.”

“Thank you.” Hays punched a fist in the air. “Fourteen years and I finally beat you at something,” he called to Jagger.

“Not for long.” Jagger moved quicker up the side of the waterfall.

Nick was at the rocky platform now.

“What have you got?” Jagger asked Nick from twenty feet below.

“Not much but my pride,” Nick admitted, grinning and looking like Adonis.

“You can flex for me. That’ll up your score for sure,” Darcy called to him. Maybe she shouldn’t encourage the flirting, but it was fun. Until her heart got broken when he walked away on Friday and never looked back.

Nick chuckled as the other two groaned. He leaned forward slightly and flexed his arms and chest.

Darcy cheered and let out a wolf-whistle. “A ten!”

Nick threw back his head and laughed.

“That’s pathetic and unfair,” Jagger protested.

“He hasn’t even dove,” Hays said, laughter in his voice.

She loved how easy-going Hays was and how riled Jagger got.

“Okay. To secure my ten.” Nick tilted up his chin to her and then lifted his arms and flexed again.

She cheered louder.

Then he stepped to the edge, launched himself into the air and flipped backward, his head rotating in the direction of the cliff. A gainer, very impressive and difficult. He rotated all the way around but was leaning left. His left side, arm, and shoulder hit the water first with a terrific splash.

Darcy jumped to her feet. He surfaced, and she cried out, “Are you okay?”

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